Malaria drug discovery/development

No other single phylum has been more productive than that of the marine Porifera in producing leads for drug discovery and molecular tools. The remarkable activity of the cytotoxic compounds 1-19 (Scheme 6.1 Parts 1 and 2) have led to the development of marine natural products and their congeners as leads in numerous anticancer clinical trials. The actin inhibitors 20-26 (Scheme 6.1 Part 3) have led to the use of sponge-derived agents as probes in the study of cellular processes. In addition, a number of unique structures such as 27-31 (Scheme 6.1 Part 4) have potential as leads in the treatment of other persistent maladies such as asthma, pain and malaria. 

At present, there are two streams of drug discovery activity that could lead to the successful development of a kinase inhibitor as a drug for Plasmodium Malaria, namely in vitro screening activities around validated kinase targets and deconvolution of key targets revealed from the screening of various Malaria Boxes on various stages of the life cycle of the parasite. 

Collaborative drug discovery projects in the public domain normally focus on neglected tropical diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, malaria, and leishmaniasis) due to the evident medical need, the reduced competition, and associated intellectual property burden. The Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) [32] was the first to focus on malaria in a collaborative shion. MMV started in 1999 with initial funding (US 4 million) from the governments of Switzerland and the Netherlands, the UK Department for International Development, the World Bank, and the Rockefeller Foundation. 

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